A few weeks ago, the Ukrainian soldier was crammed in a prison cell with seven other inmates, serving time for accidentally killing his friend in a car crash.
Now, Valery, 28, is among thousands of convicts serving their country on the frontline against Russia after being freed from jail under a scheme to bolster Ukraine’s depleted infantry ranks.
Asked what it was like to be on the battlefield instead of behind bars, he said: “My motivation was mainly to defend Ukraine, my family, and my loved ones…
“The feeling when you leave prison and realise that you’re free again is indescribable. Freedom is, after all, freedom. It was very tough back there [in jail], and when I came out here, everything was new, everything was great. It felt like I was born again.”
Some 6,800 criminals have been freed from jails across Ukraine to join the armed forces since the government first unveiled its prisoner recruitment drive last May. By contrast, Russia has long been sending its felons to the frontline.
Not every Ukrainian inmate can apply for release. Those convicted of the most serious offences, including the murder of two or more people, sexual crimes and treason, are barred.
All eligible volunteers must pass medical checks and have their application approved by a court. They sign a contract, agreeing to fight without a holiday for a year and to serve until the end of the war. At that point, they will immediately be granted parole.
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Sky News met a group of criminals – convicted of a range of offences, from theft to thuggery – who are fighting to help hold onto a chunk of Russian territory that Ukraine captured last summer.
They are part of a regular armed forces brigade, but their unit – named Shkval, which means squall in English – of about 100 felons operates separately from everyone else.
Valery, whose callsign is “Hacker”, and three other recently-released prisoners, are learning how to fly drones.
“I’ve always been fascinated by drones,” Valery said, speaking as he handled a control panel, buzzing a rotary aircraft around a frozen field in northeastern Ukraine.
Joining ‘drone’ brigade is lucky break
It is a lucky break for him as most freed criminals are channelled straight into the infantry of whichever brigade they join.
This is one of the most dangerous jobs on the battlefield, with soldiers ordered to storm enemy positions or placed at the very front of defensive lines.
In 129 Brigade, however, there is also the opportunity for prisoners with the potential to learn other skills, such as how to operate attack and surveillance drones.
Yevhen, 33, had been part way into a seven-year sentence for hitting someone in the neck during a fight when he opted to leave prison and join the military last month.
He has just started learning how to operate drones, saying: “I’m helping Ukraine, and that’s my duty. I could have just sat idly in prison, but here, I can be of more use.”
The brigade’s prisoner unit is commanded by a tall, broad man with a big personality, who – unlike the men he leads – is not a convict. A businessman and former basketball player, he has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion since it began.
Anatoly, 55, said the influx of criminals is a welcome resource to ease up pressure on the frontline.
“These guys are now giving people like us – well, not us, since we’re tireless – but other soldiers, like shooters, a chance to rest, breathe, and rotate,” he said sitting in a makeshift office in a building that was once a school but has become a base for his men when they are not fighting inside Russia’s Kursk region.
We don’t call them criminals
He said lots of prisoners want to join his team, predicting he would have enough to form a battalion of 500 men by the end of February.
“They want to come to us because our approach is more proper-military,” Anatoly said.
“It’s not just about handing out rifles for three days and sending them off [to fight]. We run a full [training] cycle, and we personally carry out combat training with each soldier.”
He also forbids anyone in the wider brigade to use terms such as “convict”, “jailbird” or “criminal” when referring to his soldiers once they have put on a uniform and vowed to serve.
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Anatoly described how his men have been part of Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk since it began in August. In that time, he has lost 17 soldiers, with another 30 wounded.
He praised their heroism, despite having criminal records, singling out one 19-year-old who had been in an orphanage, found himself in trouble with the law and ended up in prison.
Anatoly said this young man, callsign Ninja, had taken out nine highly-trained Russian soldiers before dying in an artillery strike last December.
While Ninja was an example of the courage shown by many of the former prisoners under his command, Anatoly said there have also been some disappointments.
He has sent about 10 convicts back to jail for breaking the rules, including one man who tried to flee multiple times and stole a car.
“That’s when you realise that some people are beyond help, they have no place here.”
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Extra time for breaking the rules
Under the prisoner release contract, anyone who violates the deal will be returned to prison and receive a further ten years’ jail time on top of whatever sentence they were already doing.
In a separate building on the base, a group of newly arrived convicts receive medical training for the kinds of injuries they may experience in combat.
Denys, 43, listened intently.
He had been serving time for deserting his previous army unit.
“I’ve made amends and decided this [re-joining the armed forces] was the right thing to do,” he said.
Asked how it felt to be training for battle just three days after leaving his prison cell. Denys said: “War. It doesn’t feel great, but it has to be done.”
